VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Holiday shopping is in full swing. While retailers want folks to spend and shoppers want to find good deals, some people are already thinking ahead to next year.
Black Friday was full of activity in Hampton Roads and beyond. National spending on toys was seven times higher than a typical day and electronics was more than four times the spending, according to Adobe Analytics.
Saturday folks in Virginia Beach's Town Center continued the spree. They're part of the 200 million Americans the National Retail Federation expect to shop the weekend.
"We kind of do Cyber Monday or weekend shopping," explained shopper Sam Southerland.
"Do any of you shop for the next year, not just the holiday season?" asked News 3's Erika Craven.
"I do. Like after Christmas. If I do happen to be in stores I try to think about that for next year because a lot of things are 50 percent off," said shopper Diana Moore.
Some like to plan ahead in case things get pricier.
"Because things are definitely higher this year than last and it just keeps getting higher and higher," said Moore.
Others stick to the now.
"Honestly, I don't worry about that too much," said Southerland.
One thing some shoppers talked about this year is tariffs anticipated in the coming year with the change of administration. That could impact the cost of goods like clothes or toys that are imported from abroad.
"We import lots of consumer goods from abroad. They come from China, they come from Taiwan," explained ODU economics professor Vinod Agarwal.
News 3 asked Agarwal if potential tariffs would likely impact Hampton Roads holiday shoppers this year.
"Holiday season is not likely to be impacted, thank God. Simply because the tariffs are not being imposed right now," said Agarwal. "Retailers want your business. So unless their costs go up, they're not going to pass on those increased costs to you in advance. They're not likely to do so. So I would expect through the holiday season, maybe January, February, March we won't see much effect of tariffs in the form of higher prices."
He adds that retailers are likely stocked up on certain products.
The bigger impact economists expect on prices would be during next year's holiday shopping.
